


Someone (To Protect)

by regretting my username_ (777imou_offline367)



Series: Fic Ideas [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, Bullying, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Domestic Violence, Dragon Spirit!Midorima Shintarou, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Isolation, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Midorima is a Deity, Midorima is just Doing His Job, Misunderstandings, Multi, Neglect, Physical Abuse, Slow Burn, Starvation, Supernatural Elements, Takao Kazunari is Special, Takao Kazunari-centric, Takao is a Great Brother, Takao's Father is a Scumbag, Takao's Mother is the Best, Takao's Sister is a Sweetheart, Verbal Abuse, and so is the rest of his family, just like these tags, they deserve better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26034049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/777imou_offline367/pseuds/regretting%20my%20username_
Summary: In our world fraught with corruption and terror, where dangers lurk behind every turn, where betrayals can only be done by those closest to you;For your loyalty and beliefs, what are you willing to accomplish?For your friends and family, what lengths are you willing to go?For your happiness and love, what are you willing to do?What are you willing to  give up for the one you want to protect?
Relationships: Midorima Shintarou & Takao Kazunari, Midorima Shintarou/Takao Kazunari
Series: Fic Ideas [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014129
Kudos: 8





	Someone (To Protect)

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: PLEASE READ THE TAGS. 
> 
> -This fic contains Violence and Abuse - notably on children.  
> While the violence isn't as graphic as it could be, I tagged it in anyway just in case. If you are not okay with these subjects please exit this story and move on. If you want to read on regardless, proceed with caution and DO NOT tell me you were not warned. 
> 
> -This fic is tagged as Slow Burn and so will not have any early on romantic interactions though the pairing is present and is end-game.

When he was a child, barely grown enough to be called a boy, he saw what his young mind could only describe as a Deity.

It was at the shrine built to worship the Imperial Jade Dragon of Shuutoku: Deity of Protection and Luck. His mother had brought him together with his younger sister in order to pray for the protection of her ‘two beautiful angels;’ her only family.

-

 _(He should have noticed back_ _then, how she had not included their father or relatives as a part of her "family." But he had been young and naïve – he wouldn’t make the mistake of ignorance again)._

_-_

His mother had just taken them over to the tiny waterfall to wait for her as she browsed through the charms and pendants, looking to find some that she felt would meet her wishes and needs, when Kazunari saw a flash of something bright and green. He turned his head curiously towards the shrine-

And there he was. 

He donned an emerald green kimono and a white Shinto priest garb on top. Perched gently on his lap was a _huge_ bow, string taut and ready for immediate action despite the seeming lack of any arrows. It was made of dark wood, shiny lacquered and pristine, with bandages wrapped around the middle and nothing but a few tiny nicks on the body marred its appearance. It was a near perfect match to the man’s hands: large and slender but strong, bandages wrapped tight around the fingers of his left hand.

_

_(There it was; an indicator that he had had something special. No one should’ve been able to see something as tiny as the barely there scrapes from the several tens of feet where he stood away – no one should’ve been able to see a deity at all)._

-

What drew in Kazunari’s eyes most, however, had been the man- _deity’s_ face.

Like carved from jade, the other’s face was absolute perfection. His face was chiseled yet smooth, with no blemishes to be found on ivory skin, and emerald hair framed the handsome visage, neatly combed over his forehead and cascading down his back like a waterfall. His brows were lightly furrowed, yet there were no wrinkles in between, and his lips were naturally down-turned, the bottom noticeably plump but not overly so. He had high cheekbones and a straight nose that had a slight indent at the bridge, indicating a previous, frequent use of glasses. Most eye-catching, however, were the pair of jade eyes staring at the newest devotee praying for protection or luck or whatever it was he was hoping to receive.

They were a dark green in color with spots of other shades to be seen in them. The imperial jade bracelet Kazunari had once seen came to mind as he took in smooth depth of those orbs, broken only by the slit pupils that hinted at the deity’s true nature, and framed by long, dark green lashes that gently brushed the tops of his cheeks. Those eyes observed the man before them with no change, utterly unmoved and polished as if they were truly made of stone and Kazunari had been entranced at how otherworldly they made him seem, though the clawed tips of his fingers, the slight show of fangs pressing into the corners of his bottom lip, and the long white horns definitely hinted at his non-human nature.

-

_(And there it was again; a sign of his hidden value. One cannot so simply be able to see a higher being's true nature)._

\- 

The Deity sat upright with his knees tucked beneath him, chest out and shoulders relaxed, looking exactly as a proud and powerful deity should.

Don’t know what had possessed him to do it, but little Kazunari, with his sleeping baby sister bundled up in his arms, found himself walking over towards this shining spirit, dodging people like they weren’t even there. Closer and closer he pressed until he was halted a few eight or ten feet away by the fervent murmurings of the boy currently praying at the steps, older than Kazunari by several years but still too young to understand that he should keep his wishes and prayers to himself.

“Oh Great Deity, I pray to thee: bless my family with great luck and your protection. Allow us to rise into riches and fortunes. Curse those of the insufferable Nobuko family with three generations of bad luck and misfortune. May they understand the feeling of being poor and oppressed as they do to those of us who cannot stand against them!”

And, while he no longer has any ties to connect him with that accursed family at that current moment, at that time, the only thing Kazunari was very much aware of was the fact that he was currently named “Nobuko Kazunari.”

Kazunari’s eyes had widened, small arms tightening protectively over the bundle of his sister, teeth sinking into his bottom lip to quell the gasp that nearly slipped out. His family was not good – truthfully, he hadn’t liked his family, even back then; family who always sneered at him and locked him up in small rooms and threw things at him when his mother wasn’t looking – but they were still his family. And his mother had come here earlier today to pray to that same deity, had asked for his help to keep her little ones safe and sound, in direct opposition to this boy’s wish. He thought of the deity’s beauty, of the cold warmth that he radiated, of the safety that he could feel just upon gazing at him and he felt hope and confidence rise in his small body.

‘ _He wouldn’t do that. Mother came here to pray to him today, for protection. He’s a protector. He wouldn’t hurt us; he would not agree to this—'_ little Kazunari’s thoughts are cut off when he lifts his wide eyes back up to the deity, expecting to see him as unmoved and still as he had been for the past few minutes since he caught sight of him.

A nod.

It was a small downward tilt, one that hadn’t even stirred the hair on his head, and yet it felt as if the deity had taken hold of his mighty bow and proceeded to smash it into Kazunari’s chest, crushing his small, wildly beating heart.

The gasp he held back came forth now, strained and wheezed into something resembling more of a whimper than anything, and it caused the deity to startle and look his way. Their gazes met – draconic jade eyes, surprised and wide, caught in clear silvery blue pools tainted with hurt and betrayal – before that was severed by his mother quickly scooping him up into her arms, easily holding both his and his sister’s weight and carrying them away while scolding him in a vaguely outraged and worried tone that spoke of her momentary fear that she had lost her two blessings from heaven.

But that didn’t register with Kazunari, who held his baby sister tight and curled into the safe warmth of his mother’s arms as she carried them past the shrine gates and down the steps of the mountain, back to their carriage home. His eyes locked unto the three jade donuts embedded with the symbols for protection, dimly lit green and now hanging around his mother’s neck.

And he knew. These won’t be enough to protect his family, not now.

Not when that beautiful deity had shattered his heart with cold jade eyes unmoved as he answered a confirmation to curse them into suffering.

**-.-.-**

As it so happened, his little family hadn’t received the full brunt of the devastation that befell the entire Nobuko clan by token, of course, to his devote mother: Takao Reina, formerly Madam Nobuko.

In the years following that shrine visit, he and his sister were continuously pushed away from the main branch of the Nobuko clan.

They were kept away from the lessons and the other children, were not served by the servants, ignored by the guards, and were treated like lowly slaves. Eventually, they and their mother were banished to one of the small, abandoned storage houses, with only a small portion of meals twice a day that would be enough for one full-grown man but not two children and their mother. Reina, however, was not discouraged and urged her children to stay away from that family while trying to keep all the abuse and attention fixed toward herself.

No matter how hard it was, she took the slander whispered by the servants, took the beatings given by her once lover, grit her teeth against the humiliation as she cleaned and served those below her, bore the exhaustion that weighed down her shoulders, and the starvation prowling within her stomach. All this she shouldered without complaint in order to return back to her little angels with a smile to ease the worries that mar their youthful faces, to distract from the gauntness haunting their once chubby cheeks, to bring back a little rosiness to their now paler complexions from no play and little sleep.

But there was only so much that their beloved mother could do.

She could hide the slander by hiding her kids, but she could not stop it from traveling to them in the form of the vicious bullies the main children became as they circled around their home like vultures around a dying beast. She could center the beatings of her former husband unto herself, but she could not stop him from entering their small home to spread his frustrations and wrath to their offspring as he pleased. She could absorb the humiliation of having to serve those toxic people and that mistress who stuck like a leech on that man’s frame, but it would not stop from having her babies ordered about by even the servants meant to serve them. She could handle the exhaustion and the starvation that only increased as the days passed… but she could not bear to see her Kazunari handing almost all of his meager portions to little Ayumi with a copy of her smile stamped brightly on his face as he watched her scarf down the food with a rumbling stomach and satisfied eyes.

And so, every night, she prayed.

With her children securely in her arms and their matching jade pendants clasped in her hands, she prayed every night to the Imperial Jade Dragon to give her the strength to continue onward towards a new day. She prayed to protect her children from the venomous environment that surrounded them and to bless her family with protection and enough luck – just enough – to one day be able to escape from this hellish place.

During those times, Kazunari would lie still but awake, listening to the fervent prayers of his beautiful, abused mother and silently suppress the rage that heated his eyes, knowing that the deity was the one who brought this unto them but unable to do anything except continue to survive and pray for a change of Fate.

And pray he did, one day, when it all came to a violent head.

It was early morning, the time when the little family was already up and about, silently getting ready for a new day as usual when they heard the enraged bellows emanating from the main house. They were unintelligible and incoherent, but they were _loud_ and _frightening_ and so very _angry_ … it was terrifying. Reina had quickly frozen, dropping the ladle in her hands to quickly bundle her children up, pressing Ayumi’s teary face into her bosom and cradling a trembling Kazunari into her side as she backed up into the corner furthest from the door – it didn’t change much considering how small the space was, but it brought _some_ little form of security and that was more than they currently could achieve on their own.

But the shouts were _terrifying_ , and they were drawing closer.

Reina only held them tighter, her arms like shields ready to turn into spears if need be as she faced the only entrance with the stare of a cornered beast waiting for an unknown threat. Kazunari was not the same. He was not ignorant to what danger was currently storming its way towards their home; there was no way he could be.

He could _see_ it, after all.

There was his father charging down the path like a bull in rage, fists clenched with veins popping and the blue and black of his attire fluttering like flags in his wake. His hair was up in a ragged ponytail that swished with his every stride and his teeth bared in resemblance of a monster ready to maim. What Kazunari most noticed, however, was the black mist oozing like poison from his frame. It trailed after him, surging with glee and feeding off of his rage, enveloping his form and covering his face in a way that Kazunari no longer knew what became of the man who had birthed him.

_' **Corruption** ,'_ his brain whispered, an instinctual knowledge he pulled upon to understand what was going on, ' _he is long past the point of return.'_

_-_

_(He did not questioned this, did not doubt its truth or its whereabouts. Even then, he knew, that this voice was one he could always trust - one that he could always believe. Something Special, something--)_

_-_

The door was blasted in and Kazunari’s father stood in its place, a seething barrier keeping them from escape as his black eyes trained unto their trembling forms.

He lunged.

Kazunari didn’t remember too many details of that encounter. Mostly, he could recall the sensations of screaming, fighting, begging – _pain_.

He remembered his mother standing before that man to shield them, but she was ultimately grabbed and shoved away. He remembered throwing himself over Ayumi as a black fist came down to smash into her, slamming onto his head instead. There was an immediate pain and a blur in his vision, followed by another bellow of rage and a vice-grip clasping unto his arm. It was wrenched up with _crack-jerk-pop_ followed by something heavy and pointed shoving into his stomach with all the force of a horse carriage slamming into him at full speed.

After that, he remembered being on the floor, warmth seeping from his head and his mother’s screaming accompanying Ayumi’s shrieks of terror as the **Corrupted** grabbed her and raised her into the air because- because of–

'E _nvy,'_ his mind supplied, ' _for you are all more beautiful than any of those **Corrupt** beings within the family can ever hope to achieve_.'

He thinks back to yesterday, on how those main children had seen them outside of their home. How the boys had lingered their gazes upon his sister and the girls marveled at his form, only for them to realize each other’s focus and jealousy clouding their minds black.

But it did not matter now, he did not care. He just wanted this to stop.

He wanted his mother to no longer scream and hurt. He wanted his sister only to laugh and not sob and screech. He wanted to be able to stand and move. He wanted for the pain that enveloped his malnourished body to disappear.

He wanted his _father_ and that _stupid Hell_ of the Nobuko family to all just _go away_.

And suddenly his blurry eyes fell upon his jade pendant, splattered with his own blood, right by his neck where it had fallen out of his shirt. Time seemed to stop then, as he gazed at that dimly shining stone; green and smooth, the color much lighter than what he remembered, but still reminiscent of those jade green eyes that had once locked together with his.

He felt the tears he had been holding back start to fall, the sob trapped in his chest finally breaking free as he curled his neck to bring his face closer to the stone, stopping when his nose finally met the round surface.

And it was cold – just as his eyes had been when granting the prayer of one of his devotees all those years ago – but it was also warm from the endless nights spent clasped tight in his mother’s hands; from the temperature of Kazunari’s body always pressed against it; from the blood glazed over the green and the tears that trailed down his nose to meet with stone.

_“I pray to you... Deity of Protection and Luck, Imperial Jade Dragon.. that commands Shuutoku’s earth and sky:_

_Protect my family._

_Bless us with your luck and mercy..._

_Take us away from this **Corrupted** place. _

_Grant me nothing but this request… and I shall forever devote myself to fulfilling any of yours.. to the best of my pitiful limitations. This I swear, upon my soul - upon my name:_

_Takao Kazunari”_

A rumble was heard overhead, drowning out the bellows of the monster in rage. Kazunari heard something fracture, felt the air pressure suddenly spike, before his vision was flooded with white and his mind was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Some Information about the characters:
> 
> \- Reina was from a merchant family and is an only child.  
> \- The Nobuko family proposed for her hand in order to receive money to bolster their status despite looking down upon her merchant roots.  
> \- Kazunari is the legitimate first-born and eldest son, however the mistress also gave birth to sons and is much more favored, so his position is basically worthless.  
> \- Ayumi is three years younger than Kazunari and the result of a drunken night in the wrong room. She is only a few months younger than her eldest step-brother. Incidentally, this was the spark that lead to the mistress eventually shoving them out of the main house.  
> \- Reina is good with math, finances, and can read due to her background. She teaches her children this as well as survival tricks and first-aide - things she picked up after one-too-many adventures running around in the forest as a girl.  
> \- The Shrine Visit occurred when Kazunari was 5 years old. Afterwards, they were neglected by the family and so could not take trips like that anymore.  
> \- Midorima is a Dragon Spirit - Not a Dragon.  
> \- Names are powerful things in the Higher Realms; Oaths are, too. Names are what create your existence in the eyes of the world, Oaths are what your existence creates within the world. To give up your Name or to swear an Oath... you must be desperate; enough to willingly throw yourself down to burn for eternity in Hell. 
> 
> .  
> . 
> 
> This was something I wrote a long while ago. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I decided to post it here - it was fun to polish it up and develop it a little more! It's tagged as complete but I'm not sure if I'll continue it or not.. let me know what you think about it. ^^  
> If I missed any tags, feel free to let me know and, as always, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> -imou
> 
> PS: someone hit me up with a better summary, i can't think of anything; please QwQ


End file.
